How Good Are Chinese Lenses for Leica? (35mm Leica-Inspired Replicas)

In recent years we’ve seen countless Chinese remakes of vintage Leica lenses. Today I’ll focus on 35mm lenses for Leica M mount.  How good are Chinese lenses and are they comparable to the German made Leica originals? As a YouTuber and Leica expert, I’ve reviewed almost all Chinese lenses released for Leica M mount during my last 550+ videos.

Coming up, brands like Light Lens Lab, Thypoch, MrDing, Atralab, Funleader, 7Artisans, TTArtisans and Mandler. I breakdown the differences, including sample photos and YouTube videos for each lens.

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Vintage Leica lens inspired lenses

When I say vintage Leica lens inspired this can be broken down as –

1. Remakes or near clones of vintage Leica lenses
2. Optics inspired by vintage lenses (only)
3. Lens external design inspired by Leica lenses (only)

The majority of this article is focused on new brands releasing remakes of classic Leica lenses (or new lenses heavily inspired by vintage Leica lenses) but I will give other lenses a mention too.

The first Chinese lenses for Leica

If I think back, the earliest Chinese lenses for Leica M mount that I remember were those from 7Artisans and TTArtisan. These companies designed the outside of their lenses to resemble Leica M mount lenses. Black barrel, white and yellow font and the stick on little red dot.

Optically, many of these lenses were rubbish and none of the lenses were directly trying to replicate the optical formula of Leica lenses. Occasionally they would release an amazing lens but it was never guaranteed back then. Let me give you an example from each brand.

7Artisans 35mm f1.4

The first 7Artisans 35mm lens I reviewed for Leica M mount was their 7Artisans 35mm f1.4. The outside lens design was inspired by Leica lenses but internally it was not trying to copy a Leica lens optical design. Quite a good lens but a bit too big for me. (I love tiny lenses).

TTArtisan 35mm f2 APO

As with 7Artisans mentioned above, for this lens TTArtisan didn’t try to replicate Leica optics for the 35mm f2 APO. I didn’t use this lens much after the video. (TTArtisan did replicate the Leica Summaron 28mm f5.6 with their TTArtisan 28mm f5.6 and that’s a great lens).

Retro vintage 35mm lenses

When we think of vintage inspired 35mm lenses for Leica M mount the first was probably the Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f1.4 (v1). This popular lens is not a remake of a vintage lens but it is vintage inspired as noted in the name. Voigtlander lenses are made in Japan not China but I include it here for completeness.

Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f1.4

Available in MC (multi-coated) or SC (single coated), the original 35mm Voigtlander Nokton Classic lens was known for focus shift issues. I owned this lens and shot it wide open for portraits on my film Leica and digital Leica cameras. Focus shift only becomes an issue when you stop your lens down.

Updated Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f1.4 II

Voigtlander revised their optics and re-released the 35mm Nokton Classic as a v2.  This current version is now optimised for digital sensors and doesn’t suffer from the dreaded v1 focus shift issues.

Remakes of classic 35mm lenses

The next group of retro lenses are modern lenses designed to replicate classic Leica lenses (to varying amounts depending on the type of glass used etc). Here is a list of some of the Chinese lenses and the Leica lens they are based on –

• Light Lens Lab 35mm f2 8E – Remake of Leica Summicron 35mm f2 v1
• Funleader Artizlab 35mm f1.4 – Inspired by the Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 v2
• Artralab 35mm f1.4 – Inspired by the Leica Summilux 35m f1.4 v1 “Steel Rim”
• MrDing 35mm f1.8 – Inspired by the Leica Summicron 35mm f2 v4 “King of Bokeh”
• Mandler 35mm f2 – Remake of the Leica Summicron 35mm f2 v4 “KOB”

Light Lens Lab 35mm f2 8-Element

The Light Lens Lab 35mm f2 8-Element was made in both rigid and collapsing LTM versions. Both lenses have the same optical formula and the rigid version closely resembles the original Leica lens it is based on. The LLL 8-Element as the name suggests, is a remake of the original Leica Summicron 35mm f2 v1 8-Element. Excellent lens.

This video shows a side by side shoot out. The original 35mm Leica Summicron v1 verses the LLL remake. There is a a slight colour difference but for B&W both are great. I prefer the LLL lens simply as they made a LTM version so I can mount on my Leica iii cameras.

Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 v1 “Steel Rim” Re-issue

Leica themselves even got in on the retro 35mm lenses and re-released their Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 v1 “Steel Rim” lens.  I love the look and size of this lens but it’s a bit too soft for me. I’ve used it several times but I still need to make a video. It’s on my list (together with the Leica M5 for those that keep asking!)

Funleader Artizlab 35mm f1.4

The Funleader Artizlab 35mm f1.4 lens reminds me why I love testing lenses so much. Occasionally a new lens arrives and it ticks many of my wish list boxes. The 35mm Artizlab is compact, lightweight, reasonably affordable and a decent performer both on film and digital. I wish it focused to 0.7m and had a filter threads but otherwise it’s great. My most used 35mm lens in recent times.

Originally the Funleader Artizlab was only available in black but they just released an updated version in silver. The silver lens looks fantastic on a silver Leica M film camera. 

Artralab 35mm f1.4 Similar

I’ve not owned the Artralab 35mm but my Patreon friend Tobi let me test his lens. See example photos and the results from the Artralab 35mm f1.4 in the MrDing 35mm video linked below.

MrDing 35mm f1.8 Pactcron

MrDing is a brand I’d heard of yet never had any experience with until very recently. Their 35mm Pactcron feels dense like some solid brass Leica lenses and comes in a black paint finish for those that love their black paint Leica cameras.

Mandler 35mm f2 KOB

One lens I’d never heard of yet multiple followers wrote to me to confirm it exists is the new Mandler 35mm f2 7-Elements lens. Mandler is new company founded at the end of 2024 by two Leica enthusiasts. Their goal, to make affordable lenses for Leica users that give that famous Leica look without breaking the bank. I didn’t grow up with rich parents and endless money so this mindset really appeals to me.

Mandler kindly reached out to me after I made a 35mm YouTube video and soon after I bought their lens so I could make a review. Mandler lenses are made in China but the contact I’ve dealt with sells out of Indonesia. Unlike most lenses in this review, Mandler lenses are not readily available in the west. You might find them for sale on eBay occasionally but you won’t find them in the likes of B&H or Amazon.

The Mandler 35mm f2 7-Elements lens is based on the Leica Summicron 35mm f2 ‘King of Bokeh’ lens so I thought the perfect video would be to compare it to the original Leica 35mm f2 KOB. Patreon friend Thomas owns the Leica KOB 35mm f2 so we arranged a head to head shootout in The Netherlands for YouTube. (Similar to the Light Lens Lab 35mm f2 8-Element vs Leica original test).

Mandler 35mm f2 – Back in Stock!

Budget Chinese Leica clones – Are they even legal?

The Chinese lenses mentioned above take inspiration in both size, design and the optical formula compared to the original Leica lenses. As Leica lens patents have long since expired for these vintage lenses anyone can try to make their version of the original without potential legal action from Leica. This is why these lenses are often referred to as clones or remakes.

Exact replica of Leica lenses?

The extent that the Chinese ‘clone’ lenses can replicate the original lenses is limited by the materials available today and the price point they plan to sell the lens at. Some materials used in vintage Leica lenses are now banned as they are toxic or radioactive, such as lead and thorium.

If we use the lens manufacturing cost (total cost to make the lens) as the limiting factor, let’s compare Leica replica lenses verses inspired-by lenses.

Leica lens replicas

Light Lens Lab restricted themselves less by budget so they could make as close as possible, accurate replicas of original Leica lens. This means LLL lenses tend to be more expensive when compared to most other Chinese lenses and are not seen as budget.  Light Lens Lab are perhaps number one for best optical performance at the time of writing (so charge prices accordingly).

Leica inspired lenses

In comparison, I chatted with MrDing and their business model is different. They set the price point (what they want to sell the lens for) then do as much as they can within that price point to make a Leica inspired lens. This results in more affordable lenses (like the Funleader Artizlab and the lens from Mandler) which can be viewed as ‘inspired by classic Leica lenses’ rather than exact copies.

Size matters

MrDing explained to me that to improve the optical performance of a lens you either need to use the most expensive glass (which was the Leica approach) or add more lens elements. Less glass means smaller lenses but when Leica designed their aspherical 35mm Summicron the extra elements meant a bigger lens.

Leica are normally striving for maximum performance which is why their modern lenses are bigger than their vintage lenses. Chinese companies are copying the vintage lenses as I imagine patents still exist for modern Leica glass. MrDing wanted to make an affordable copy of a vintage Leica lens so to keep it small they used cheaper glass. This is why many Chinese lenses can only give 80-90% of the original Leica lens look. Mandler for example retained the centre sharpness of the Leica lens (actually the Mandler is sharper) but to keep costs low went for non-corrected softer edges.

This is a common trait of smaller vintage Leica lenses, the sharp centre and soft edges/ corners. Over time Leica added more lens elements to give sharper edge to edge performance which resulted in the bigger lenses that we see today.

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Vintage inspired optics 

So far we’ve covered Chinese lenses that try to replica the look and optical formula of vintage Leica lenses. Other modern lenses can be inspired by the optical formula of Leica lenses yet don’t restrict themselves to the small size of the original or making replica designs.  For this I think of the Chinese Thypoch Simera lenses which are strongly influenced by Leica Summilux lens optics.

Thypoch Simera 35mm f1.4

The Thypoch Simera 35mm f1.4 lens is one of 5 lenses in a set. Simera 21mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, all with a maximum aperture of f1.4. Thypoch Simera lenses provide a near perfect fusion of vintage character yet high performance, like you can expect from Leica aspherical lenses. Simera lenses tend to render slightly warmer which is very flattering for skin tones plus a lovely bokeh swirl and flare.

Simera lenses are bigger, like modern Leica lenses but with the extra size you gain the improved performance. Thypoch somehow managed to blend the perfect mix of wide open sharpness, bokeh swirl and cinematic looking flare and the design is better than Leica. Let me explain.

The benefit of Thypoch Simera lenses over almost all Leica lenses (except those released in the last few years), is you can (1) focus closer – 0.4m-0.45m MFD depending on the lens and (2) unlike Voigtlander lenses that focus below 0.7m you have a soft stop at 0.7m. Perfect for rangefinder camera users, especially Leica M film cameras. (The soft stop bump prevents accidental mis-focusing when the rangefinder disengages below 0.7m).

If you don’t mind a slightly larger lens, Thypoch Simera are perhaps the best option for Leica M cameras as you can have a 35mm lens that focuses at 0.45m not 0.7m. That sounds like a small detail but if you’re a one camera, one lens kinda guy, and use a digital Leica M camera with LiveView, you can do it all with one lens. Close up detail photos of your coffee (or dog/ cat) at 0.45m and perfect landscapes shot at infinity.

Personally I use the smaller Chinese lenses mentioned above as my every day carry lenses but if my interest was digital photos and I could only use one less the 35mm f1.4 Thypoch Simera would likely make the most sense.

Leitz Hugo cine lens (Thypoch version)

Did you know that Leica made cine lenses too? Leica took standard Leica M lens optics and rehoused them with gearing rings and a few extra aperture blades. These lenses are known as Leitz Hugo lenses or previously Leitz M 0.8 lenses. Both are Leica M optics being used for video.

Thypoch teamed up with sister company Dzofilm and followed the same Leica approach. Thypoch rehoused their mentioned Thypoch Simera optics, added a few more aperture blades and sell them as Thypoch Simera-C lenses.

Thypoch Simera-C lenses

Thypoch Simera-C lenses are available in Leica M mount but the lenses are no longer rangefinder coupled. This means, if I use a Simera-C lens on a rangefinder camera I need to focus via LiveView (on my digital Leica M10-P) or just zone focus. (I zone focus with my 1931 Leica 1c camera all the time so this is not a problem).

Leitz Hugo lenses are not easy to find as are mostly made for commercial shoots and rental houses. For YouTube I compare the Thypoch Simera-C 35mm f1.4 against the Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 FLE. The FLE lens has the same optics as the Leitz Hugo 35mm f1.4 so they are comparable.

As with the other Chinese lenses in this article, the Leica lens images perhaps had the edge by 5-10% but unless you saw both photos side by side the Thypoch lenses are a great affordable alternative.

Retro inspired lens design

Some lenses are designed to look retro on the outside but don’t replicate vintage lens designs on the inside. For this I think of the Voigtlander “Vintage Line” lenses, (made in Japan).

Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2 

The Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2 “vintage line” lens comes in two different external designs. The Type I and Type II. Optically both lenses are identical but the Type I has the silver and black design with vintage focus tab stick. Type II is a normal modern design and modern focus tab.

The end of Voigtlander dominance?

In the past, if you owned a Leica M camera and couldn’t afford a Leica lens you bought Voigtlander (and to a lesser extent Zeiss). When I founded this blog in 2013 I had the Leica M9 and back then I started out with Voigtlander and Zeiss lenses. Since then Carl Zeiss gave up on their ZM lens line for Leica so that just left Voigtlander. Voigtlander continue to pump out amazing lenses but now they are starting to face some stiff competition from China.

Thypoch vs Voigtlander

Thypoch are now a direct competitor to Voigtlander, and arguably make better lenses in terms of the Simera design. Where Voigtlander excels is with their small lenses which are often some of the smallest on the market. If Thypoch were to make high performing compact lenses for Leica M mount then I think Voigtlander sales will suffer.

I’m a long-term Voigtlander fan and some critiques even call me “Mr Voigtlander”. Some of my most used lenses are Voigtlander – 90mm APO, 75mm Nokton, 40mm Heliar, 35mm Skopar, 28mm Skopar. That said I’m always open to new offerings so it’ll be interesting to see what Thypoch and others do next.

Too many Chinese retro lenses?

With the recent flood of new Chinese retro lenses hitting the Leica M market when is enough enough? If you’re a passionate Leica fan like me then having more choices is always a good thing. More competition should help drive lower prices meaning that more of us can enjoy Leica cameras. In the past the cost of Leica lenses was seen as a barrier to entry but that’s no longer the case. You can now enjoy the same amazing Leica M camera experience just using more affordable lenses.

So much hate.. but I get it

I always receive the China hate comments on my YouTube videos and I get it. “Why are Chinese companies allowed to copy Leica?” I try to review lenses based on face value and avoid the politics. I don’t care that Zeiss and Voigtlander lenses are made in Japan and Thypoch and Light Lens Lab lenses are made in China.

There is nothing stopping European or American companies doing exactly the same as the Chinese but the Chinese are seemingly just more proactive. Western photographers often don’t like to see “made in China” on a lens but if we made a lens in the UK we’d write “made in the UK”.

I use M lenses based on their look, size and performance not the specific brand. If the lens means I can enjoy my Leica camera experience even more then it’s a win (and for those of you new to Chinese lenses, yes Chinese lenses are often built to feel just as good as Leica lenses.. sometimes better). (The Funleader Artizlab 35mm f1.4 lens in silver must have one of the best finishes and most precise feeling aperture rings of all the lenses I own – love it!)

What is the best 35mm lens for Leica M?

With the constant release of new lenses for Leica I’m always interested to see how they compare existing Leica M mount lenses. In this video I pull together a pile of 35mm lenses and you can see how each perform. I also wrote this detailed article on 35mm lenses – Best 35mm lens for Leica M? (28 lenses compared) which includes more sample photos.

Confused as to what Chinese 35mm lens to buy?

I received a few comments from you guys saying you no longer know what was the best 35mm Chinese lens to get since there are so many. I can only give you my opinion but here are the lenses I use and why.

• Funleader Artizlab 35mm f1.4 – Fantastic at f2 on film, lightweight travel EDC, pretty
• Thypoch Simera 35mm f1.4 – If I need maximum performance and f1.4 aperture
• Thypoch Simera-C 35mm f1.4 – My go-to lens for video, especially the flare and bokeh
• Light Lens Lab 35mm f2 8E – If I need character + performance (great on film too)
• Mandler 35mm f2 – Amazing value, stays in my bag. EDC on film + portraits for digital

How much do Chinese lenses cost?

At the time of writing it’s Black Friday season so you might be able to pick up some bargains. You normally find the best prices by buying direct from their websites – Thypoch, Light Lens Lab, Funleader, TTArtisan, 7Artisans. See or my gear list discount code page for all links. Note, the Mandler lens is less easy to find outside of China and Indonesia but most other lenses should be easy to source.

What’s next from our friends in China?

One lens that is rumoured and has been in the making since 2024 is the much anticipated Light Lens Lab 35mm f1.4 AA (Double Aspherical) based on the Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4. LLL said they are back on track so I think this could be the next lens to land.

I’ll of course try to get a AA to review as soon as it becomes available so you’ll know whether or not it’s worthy of the hype. Light Lens Lab rarely disappoint. I love my LLL 50mm f2 Elcan, LLL 50mm f1.2 1966 and both versions of the mentioned LLL 35mm f2 8E. Fingers crossed!

Find out more

To learn more about any of the lenses mentioned plus future lens releases for Leica follow me on YouTube. If you prefer written format just add your email to receive the next blog article. Still not sure what lens to get? Join me for a 1:1 zoom call and I can help narrow down which lens might suit your specific needs the best.

To support my work please consider joining Patreon and if you’d like to meet me face to face to chat lenses check out my Leica workshops. Hope to catch you here next time!